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comScore in Journal of Advertising Research on Topic of Social Media Effectiveness Measurement

The Journal of Advertising Research recently published its March 2014 issue, which featured a new article co-authored by comScore chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni and me, entitled “Digital Game Changers: How Social Media Will Help Usher in the Era of Mobile and Multi-Platform Effectiveness Measurement.”

While digital ad effectiveness measurement has traditionally focused on desktop display advertising, we believe that the industry is on the cusp of a significant shift that will lead to a more integrated view of media platforms. Because so much digital consumer behavior has shifted to mobile, there is an increasing need to prove the value of this medium so that ad dollars can be more efficiently allocated. This is especially true within the social media sector. Fortunately, several leading social media companies are paving the way for a more holistic approach to effectiveness measurement, which we believe will ultimately be driven by three primary factors:

Mobile Usage Shift – As more user activity shifts to mobile, particularly among social media companies, this creates urgency around proving the value of mobile.

Native Advertising – Native ads, employed by most of the social media leaders, often have the benefit of being scalable across platforms and can enable a more integrated view of digital advertising.

Big Data Enablement – New sources of big data are rapidly opening new avenues for more granular effectiveness measurement. With the scale of activity occurring on many social platforms, the opportunities here are extensive.